New locations sought for burials

More needs to be done to create burial space in Shropshire, as the council looks for possible locations for a new cemetery.

Shropshire Council’s Communities Overview Committee was given a presentation on the diminishing amount of burial capacity in some areas of the county at a meeting at Shirehall.

The meeting heard that Minsterley and Shrewsbury were the two most affected areas.

The council’s bereavement services manager, Mark Foxall, said the authority was looking to extend burial space in Church Pulverbatch cemetery by extending on to land next to it already owned by the council.

And he said the authority was looking for new sites in Shrewsbury to develop burial land.

But Councillor Nick Hignett, member for Rea Valley, which covers Minsterley, said he did not think people from the village would be happy being buried in Church Pulverbatch.

“That’s five miles away and not a nice road,” he told the meeting.

“People have said to me they wouldn’t be too happy being buried there.

Members also heard how the council was looking for space to hold Muslim burials.

Mr Foxall said: “It is something we are looking at because at the moment families are having to travel elsewhere to bury loved ones.

“Muslim burials have to happen within a matter of hours after death so we are working on this.”

Councillor Vivienne Parry, member for Ludlow South, said: “This is something we definitely have to look at because we have a large Muslim community and it is not fair that they have to travel away to bury loved ones.”

Mr Foxall added: “We have a growing elderly population and with more and more houses being built, we are seeing more people moving to the county to live out their retirement.

“Therefore use will go up, it generates good revenue for the council and it is well trusted by the public.

“A new cemetery for Minsterley is needed and we have identified the site in Church Pulverbatch.

“We also need a new cemetery in Shrewsbury. Do we need to go out and buy land or use land the council already owns? That is what we are looking at now.

“We are looking at capacity for the next 100 years and that is a large piece of land. And pieces of land that large are usually earmarked for housing these days.”

He added:  “The development cost for a new cemetery for Shrewsbury is unknown at present.

“The largest component of future development cost is likely to be for land acquisition if suitable land cannot be found from within the council’s owned estate.

“The size of cemetery developed will be a factor in the total development costs.”

Mr Foxall added that 37 new graves were purchased in total across all Shropshire Council cemetery land during 2018 calendar year and a further 137 ‘reopens’ for second or third interments took place.

He also added that the scheme was in the very early stages.